Relationship Advice: Everyone's got some

Dane Cook said it best:

Let’s talk a little bit about L-O-V-E. Sometimes you meet somebody and you
have what is known as a ‘relationship’ and things can go great, then you have a
‘great relationship.’
But sometimes it doesn’t go so great, and I call that a
‘relationshit.'

Everyone always likes to hand out relationship advice to the next person, but for some reason, people never want to take their own advice. Does that mean it's bad advice in the first place? Probably not.

There are all of those Self-Help books like He's Just Not That Into You and Why Men Love Bitches. But no one really wants to hear that stuff. Again, probably good advice, but hard to follow.

I once tried to read Why Men Love Bitches, but I had to put it down after the first page because it was creepily talking directly to me:

Meet the nice girl. Everyone has known a "nice girl." She is the woman who will overcompensate, giving everything to man she barely knows, without him having to invest much in the relationship. She's the woman who gives blindly because she wants so much for her attentions to be reciprocated. She's the woman who goes along with what she thinks her man will like or want because she wants to keep the relationship at all costs. Every woman, at some point, has been there.

Certainly, the average fashion magazine gives women ridiculous relationship advice that makes it easy to understand why women are so eager to overcompensate: "Play hard to get, then cook him a four course meal... bake him Valentine's cookies with exotic sprinkles shipped from Malaysia (just like Martha Stewart). Don't forget the little doilies and organic strawberries you drove two hours to get. Then serve it all to him on the second date, wearing a black lace nightie. And what is this the recipe for? Disaster.

One of my best guy friends is starting a new relationship, and we have been talking a lot about new relationships recently. He has made two of the best statements I've heard in a while:

Love isn't easy, but in its true form, is right.

If men would just understand that the main thing women need is a little security, things would be much easier.

Why can't all men be as smart as this guy?

I am by no means a relationship expert, but I, along with everyone else, am good at handing out advice and not taking the advice that's handed to me.

So here's my advice for those who want to hear it...

Girls:

Be yourself. Be confident in yourself. Find a guy that appreciates how amazing you are, and settle for nothing less. If you find yourself wanting to change things about him or fix things about your relationship in the beginning, chances are it's not going to work. Don't allow yourself to be hurt by trying to fix something that isn't worth fixing.

Guys:

Be kind to her. Most girls have fragile feelings. All most girls need to feel secure in a relationship is just to be reminded that she's on your mind. It's amazing how much impact a text like "Just thinking about you. Have a good day." can have. If you really like a girl, let her know she's on your mind. If you're not really into her, make that clear. Don't play games. It's rude. And be nice to her friends, because if her friends don't like you, you can probably hang it up.